Piston packing



L. w. HANCE "PISTON PACKING Filed July 24, 1953 July so; 1935.

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Lawrence VIA-lance y 1935? L. w. HANCE 2,009,958

' PISTON PACKING Filed July 24, 1933 3 Sheeis-Sheet 2 Fig.5

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L. W. HANCE PISTON PACKING July 30, 1935.

Filed July 24, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l5 INVENTOR Lawrence WHance Patented July 30, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PISTON PACKING Lawrence W. Hance, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application July 24,1933, Serial No. 681,969

11 Claims. (01. 309-4) This invention relates generally to an improved through one side of the end casting of the piston combination of bull ring and sealing rings and valve shown in Fig. l; more particularly to an improved arrangement Figs. 4 to 6 are respectively transverse sections in such a combination whereby interlocking segtaken on the lines 4-4, 55 and 6-6 of Fig. 3;

5 mental rings are adapted to be efliciently and Fig. 7 is a sectional view through an engine 5 economically employed. piston showing a modified arrangement of my A great many attempts have heretofore been improved combination applied to an engine made to provide suitable sealing means for pispiston; tons and piston valves or other similar mecha- Fig. 8 is an end view of the piston shown in nisms. While single piece piston rings have been Fig. 7 with parts broken away to show details 01' 10 used to a very large extent, yet it is well-known construction; that such rings have distinct limitations in main- Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary section of taining a perfect seal whereas prior attempts to one side of the piston shown in Fig. 7; provide sectional or segmental rings in order to Fig. 10 is a further modification of my commaintain a substantially perfect seal have rebination. 15 sulted in the ring sections being fragile and thus In the illustrated embodiments of the invenreadily breakable. To overcome these difliculties, tion shown herein for the purpose of disclosing certain attempts have been made to provide a certain specific forms among others that the bull ring in combination with piston rings, but invention might take, I have provided a valve these arrangements have been expensive and chest I having piston valve 'sleeves 2 and l. 20 ditficult to replace after once being placed in These sleeves and chest are provided with valve use, thereby resulting in high maintenance cost. ports 4 and 5 leading to opposite ends of a double It is one object of my invention to obtain the acting engine cylinder and are controlled by a advantages of sectional metallic packing rings piston valve generally indicated at 6. The two without the diificulties of the prior arrangements piston ends of this valve are identical and hence 25 and a more specific object of the invention is to only one end and its rings will be described in accomplish this result by providing a bull ring detail. Y for supporting the weight of the piston in 00- Any suitable form of piston valve construction operation with improved and simplified intermay be used but preferably is of the type emlooking sectional packing rings, the bull ring and ploying a solid end casting I having ribs to sup- 30 packing rings being so arranged and related with port a central boss 8 in which is secured a valve respect to the piston body so as to be positively actuating rod 9. The end casting 1 may be insupported and guided thereby independently of tegrally connected to the corresponding end casteach other d y be arranged for functional ing at the other end of the valve or a relatively cooperation to hold the packing or sealing i gs thin steel pipe l0 may be welded or otherwise suit- 35 in position with minimum poss b i y of lea ag ably secured to the end casting I.

A further object is to provide an improved 'ar- As shown more fully in Fi 3 t 6, th d r n m n b w n the bull n n packing casting I is provided with a ring groove of varyrings such as above set forth and to permit such ing depths t form i t t fl more 40 range o be effectively used in either an specifically it comprises an annular recess II for 40 engine piston or piston valve. centering a bull ring generally indicated at 42.

Oth r o j ts a d advantages w l e m p- This recess is bounded by annular flanges I: and parent to those skilled in the art from the follow- |3c while recesses l 4 and I5 are provided adjaing description of the accompanying drawings cent the outside of said flanges. These outside i which; recesses in turn communicate with further re- 45 Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cesses l6 and I I oifset inwardly at an appreciable piston valve and steam chest with one end of the distance from the bottom of recesses l4 and I 5, valve broken away to show details of construcalthough the provision of circular interlocking tion of one form of my improved bull ring and flanges I8 and I9 formed integrally with the end sealing ring arrangement as applied to a piston casting 1 causes the actual radial depth of recesses 50 l e; l6 and H to be not materially greater than the Fig. 2 is an end view of the body and casting complete depth of recesses l4 and IS. The full of the valve shown in Fig. 1, parts being broken depth of recesses l4 and i5 is created preferably away to show details of construction; by the provision of slight recesses 20 and 2| at Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section the inside corners of lips 22 and 23 of bull ring I2. 55

Bull ring I2 is formed in a plurality of segments, preferably two, each having an inwardly projecting annular flange 24 disposed'within recess I while the lips 22 and 23 rest upon the periphery of flanges l3 and |3a. Due to the periphery of the bull ring extending an appreciable distance beyond the periphery 25 of the end casting 1, it is seen that this bull ring will support the weight of the piston and that there will be minimum danger of breaking lips 22 and 23 due to resting on flanges l3 and l3a. The opposite ends of each bull ring segment are secured to end casting 'l by the provision of bolts 26 and 21. These bolts and their heads are received in suit- 'able openings and recesses generally indicated at 28 in the bull ring and at 29 in the end casting while nuts 30 permit the bolts to be tightly fastened from inside of end or piston element 1.

Disposed within recess H are segmental piston rings 3| provided with an annular recess 32 to receive the portion of lip 22 which overhangs the flange |3a thereby providing a positive and yet simple means in combination with the bull ring for preventing dislodgment of ring 3| either by steam pressure or by the action of a circular expanding spring 33 preferably of flat material.

Disposed adjacent to ring 3| and in slidable contact therewith and supported entirely by the piston head 1 independently of ring 3| is a second series of segmental or sectional sealing rings 34. These rings have an offset portion 35 to provide an interlocking shoulder with flange I8. It will be noted that the inner portion of said rings 34 is adapted to be guided by the opposite walls of recess I6 independently of ring 3| although a necessary close sliding fit is maintained between the two sets of rings 3| and 34 to maifitain any desired degree of sealing between these rings. Also the series of segments 34 may be moved outwardly either by fluid pressure that may leak behind the same or by the action of a flat circular spring 36.

To cause the adjacent ends 31 and 38, Fig. 6, of the one series of rings to be maintained in staggered relation to the adjacent ends of the inner series of rings, I have provided dowel pins 39 and 40, Figs. 5 and 6. The sealing rings in the other set of recesses are identical to those described for the other side and. hence further description of this arrangement is not necessary.

It will be noted that in Fig. 4 the adjacent ends 4| of the bull ring segments are disposed over the bridge or bridges 42 in the valve ports 4 thus minimizing leakage and preventing ends of the rings from catching in the ports.

In operation, the bull ring l2 will entirely support the weight of the piston while the two sets of sealing rings on each side thereof will function to seal the valve as it passes over valve ports 4. One function of the present arrangement as applied to valves is that when segments 3| have moved so as to be entirely exposed to the fluid pressure in port 3, these segments will then be collapsed by such pressure and their sealing action broken. However, the outer series of sealing rings 34 will still maintain positive sealing engagement with the wall of the piston valve, thereby minimizing the possibility of leakage. While this general function has heretofore been performed, yet in my improved arrangement the outer segments are positively guided on each side by the piston head even though the inner series of segments'3l have collapsed. Hence during collapsing of the inner series there is less tendency for such collapsing to fricticnally engage the outer series of rings with sufficient force to-tend to move the same inwardly from their sealing position.

In Figs. 7 to 9 I have embodied in an engine piston certain principles of the foregoing disclosure such for instance as the provision of sectional bull rings 50 having an annular flange seated within an annular recess 5| while lips 52 and 53 rest directly upon flanges 54 and 55 disposed on each side of recess 5|. Holding bolts 56 pass through the opposite ends of each bull ring segment to hold the same tightly in position. The lips 52 and 53 overhang said flanges to provide an interlocking shoulder adapted for cooperation with a shoulder 51 formed on a series of segmental sealing rings 58. This series of segments are disposed within a recess 59 whose opposite wall has an interlocking flange 60. A second series of segmental sealing rings 6| also have a shoulder 62' for cooperation with the interlocking flange or shoulder'Bll. It will be noted that the series of rings 58 and 6| are of the same radial depth and substantially identical except that the interlocking flanges extend axially in opposite directions while plain surface engagement is provided between the two sets of rings. Also each set of rings is provided with annular recesses 62 and 63 to receive flat circular springs 64 and 65. As a result of this construction it is seen that a small annular rib is provided on the inner periphery of each segment so as to properly guide the springs 64 and 65 and thus cause the action of each spring to be confined definitely to its own set of segments. These ribs 66 and 6'! serve the further function of insuring proper spacing for the springs 64 and 65. The sealing rings and bull rings are symmetrical about the center line of the bull ring and hence it is not necessary to describe the other set of sealing rings at the right side of Fig. 9. To maintain the adjacent ends of each series of segments in staggered relation to corresponding ends of the other series of segments, I have provided dowel pins 68 and 68.

From the foregoing disclosure of Figs. 7 to 9. it is seen that I have provided a. bull ring adapted to support the weight of the piston or valve and at the same time provide lips on the bull ring adapted to be supported directly on the piston body and to provide interlocking means for th sealing or piston ring segments.

As a result, such construction can be made extremely sturdy and yet readily flexible and otherwise suitably adapted to perform a high degree of sealing action while at the same time insuring that in the event of breakage of any sealing ringthe broken parts will be effectively held in position so as to effect at least partial sealing action.

In Fig. 10 it is seen that I have embodied a type of bull ring shown in Fig. 3 in combination with a single series of piston ring segments 10. Each segment is provided with interlocking annular flanges H and 12 for engagement with flanges." and I4 of the piston head and bull ring respectively. A relatively wide flat spring 15 of circular form is disposed behind the segments 10 to press the same uniformly outward against the wall of the engine cylinder of piston valve cylinder. Preferably two sets of sealing rings are provided one on each side of the bull ring 16.

From all of the foregoing disclosures it is seen that I have provided an extremely simple and yet highly effective combined bull ring and sealing ring arrangement, one that is economical in manufacture and maintenance and is highly effective in operation together with a simplicity that is so essential to a successful packing.

It will of course be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

. I claim:

1. In combination, a piston having a ring groove formed between two permanent walls and an inwardly projecting'flange on one wall thereof, a bull ring mounted on said piston for carrying the weight thereof and having a lip overhanging the other wall of said groove opposite to said flrst wall, and segmental sealing means disposed in said groove and having oppositely extending flange portions to be guided by said groove walls and adapted for cooperation with said lip and groove flange.

2. In combination, a piston having a ring groove formed between two permanent walls and an inwardly projecting flange on one of said walls, a bull ring mounted on said piston for carrying the weight thereof and having a lip overhanging the other of said walls, segmental sealing means disposed in said groove and having oppositely extending flange portions to be guided by said groove walls and adapted for cooperation with said lip and groove flange, said sealing means being spaced from the bottom of said groove, and spring means disposed in said groove behind said sealing means.

3. In combination, a piston having a 'ring groove formed between two permanent walls and an inwardly projecting flange on one of said walls, a bull ring mounted on said piston for carrying the weight thereof and having a lip overhanging the other of said walls, segmental sealing means disposed in said groove and having oppositely extending flange portions to be guided by said groove walls and adapted for cooperation with said lip and groove flange, and means for rigidly and removably securing said bull ring to said piston whereby upon removal of said bull ring said sealing means may be removed.

4. In combination, a piston having a groove formed between two permanent walls one ofwhich has a flange extending laterally inwardly of said groove, a bull ring removably secured to said piston and adapted to carry the weight thereof, said ring having a recessed lip overhanging one of said permanent walls and extending into said groove to provide a flange opposed to said other flange, and sealing means disposed in said groove and having shouldered portions adapted for cooperation with said flanges and for guidance by said walls, said recessed lip and shouldered portions of said sealing means being of such relative proportions that upon removal of said bull ring said sealing means may be moved axially to clear one of said groove flanges whereupon said sealing means may be then moved outwardly from the piston.

. 5. In combination, a piston having an annular centering recess and a sealing ring groove, an annular flange between said recess and groove, a flange formed integrally with said piston and projecting inwardly of said sealing ring groove at one side thereof, a bull ring having a portion seated in said centering recess and a lip portion seated on said annular-flange and overhanging the same into said sealing ring groove to provide a flange for the opposite side of said groove, and segmental sealing means disposed in said sealing ring groove and having shouldered portions adapted to be limited by said groove flanges.

- 6. In combination, a piston having an annular centering recess and a sealing ring groove, an annular flange between said recess and groove, a flange formed integrally with said piston and projecting inwardly of said sealing ring groove at one side thereof, a bull ring having a-portion seated in said centering recess and a lip portion seated on said annular flange and overhanging the same into said sealing ring groove to provide a flange for the opposite side of said groove, segmental sealing means disposed in said sealing ring groove and having shouldered portions adapted to be limited by said groove flanges, said sealing means being spaced from the bottom of said groove, and a relatively flat spring disposed behind said sealing means for forcing the same radially outward.

7. In combination, a piston having an annular centering recess and a sealing ring groove, an annular flange between said recess and groove, a flange formed integrally with said piston and projecting inwardly of said sealing ring groove at one side thereof ,a bull ring having a. portion seated in said centering recess and a lip portion seated on said annular flange and overhanging the same into said sealing ring groove to provide a flange for the opposite side of said groove, and a plurality of series of segmental sealing rings disposed in said sealing ring groove, said segments in each series having shoulders on their outer sides for cooperation with said groove flanges.

8. In combination, a piston having an annular centering recess and a sealing ring groove, an annular flange between said recess and groove, a flange formed integrally with said piston and projecting inwardly of said sealing ring groove at one side thereof, a bull ring having a portion seated in said centering recess and a lip portion seated on said annular flange and overhanging the same into said sealing ring groove to provide a flange for the opposite side of said groove, a, plurality of series of segmental sealing rings disposed in said sealing ring groove, said segments in each series having shoulders on their outer sides for cooperation with said groove flanges and said segments also having recesses in their inner periphery to provide a bottom spacing rib and a spring receiving space, and springs disposed in said spaces and adapted to be guided on one side by said ribs.

9. In combination, a piston having a sealing ring groove with ofi'set bottom portions, a bull ring removably secured to said piston for carrying the weight thereof and having a lip overhanging one side of said groove to provide a flange therefor, a flange formed on said piston and projecting into said groove on the opposite side thereof, and a plurality of series of segmental sealing rings disposed in said groove, one of said series being of less depth than the other and the series having the greatest depth being disposed in the offset portion of said groove having the greatest depth thereby to be guided on its opposite sides by said piston, the rings of the other series being guided by a wall of said groove and by said rings of greatest depth.

10. In combination, a piston having a sealing ring groove with ofiset bottom portions, a bull ring removably secured to said piston for carrying the weight thereof and having a lip overhanging one side of said groove to provide a flange therefor, a flange formed on said piston and projecting into said groove on the opposite side thereof a plurality of series of segmental sealing rings disposed in said groove, one of said series being of less depth than the other and the series having the greatest depth being disposed in the of!- set portion of said groove having the greatest depth thereby to be guided on its opposite sides by said piston, and springs disposed behind each of said series'of segmental rings to force the same outwardly independently of each other.

11. In combination, a piston having a sealing ring groove formed adjacent a bull ring mounted on said piston for carrying the weight thereof, flanges projecting toward each other so as to overlie the opposite sides of said groove, two rows of segmental sealing rings disposed in said groove, the rings of each row having slidable contact with each other along their adjacent sides and also having flanges on their outer sides for cooperation with said other flanges, the rings of at least one of said rows having a radial rib on their inner periphery to provide an annular recess, and an expander disposed in said annular recess behind one row of rings and a second expander disposed behind the other row 01' rings whereby each row of rings may have independent radial movement but with mutual guiding action between said rows.

LAWRENCE W. HANCE. 

